I just a read a disturbingly good article entitled “The Dumbing Of America” by Susan Jacoby of the Washington Post. Jacoby claims that not only are Americans quickly becoming more ignorant, but they are increasingly proud of it. Sadly I agree :(
Whether you’re black, white, brown, or even purple with polka dots, ignorance doesn’t care. Are you a Democrat? Maybe you’re a Republican. Guess what! It doesn’t matter because ignorance crosses party lines. Ignorance goes to church and ignorance pays it’s taxes. Ignorance shops at the local grocery store and delivers your mail. It teaches your kids at school and bosses you around at work. Ignorance is omnipresent!
It’s evident in almost every facet of American life. Whether it’s public support for teaching creationism in schools or Miss Teen South Carolina answering a question, it’s apparent that Americans are slipping.
For those of you too lazy to read the article here are a few choice clips:
“The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson offered that observation in 1837, but his words echo with painful prescience in today’s very different United States. Americans are in serious intellectual trouble — in danger of losing our hard-won cultural capital to a virulent mixture of anti-intellectualism, anti-rationalism and low expectations.
That leads us to the third and final factor behind the new American dumbness: not lack of knowledge per se but arrogance about that lack of knowledge. The problem is not just the things we do not know (consider the one in five American adults who, according to the National Science Foundation, thinks the sun revolves around the Earth); it’s the alarming number of Americans who have smugly concluded that they do not need to know such things in the first place. Call this anti-rationalism — a syndrome that is particularly dangerous to our public institutions and discourse. Not knowing a foreign language or the location of an important country is a manifestation of ignorance; denying that such knowledge matters is pure anti-rationalism. The toxic brew of anti-rationalism and ignorance hurts discussions of U.S. public policy on topics from health care to taxation.
Related posts:
- Out Of The Country
- Are Americans Ignorant About Religion?
- Islamophobia And The Great American Pig Race
- Broccoli Is My Personal Jihad
- God Chooses Colts Over Bears
February 19th, 2008 at 12:16 am
I have to say I definitely agree with this post. I can’t count how many times on forums or chatrooms I get into debates where my opponent admits AND IS PROUD OF THE FACT that they don’t know enough about the subject at hand. Yet they argue their POV as if they knew everything there was to know about it.
Too bad you can’t pass some sort of law to correct this. It would take tons of effort and would have immeasurable success.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:39 am
I agree with the sentiment, but dislike her attack on the Net. The statistic about novels and poems is probably accurate, but that doesn’t mean no one reads. What are we doing now? Reading. The statistic just means that we aren’t reading things she likes. That is a weak argument. She also confused TV and the internet. Not a very strong stance. I find that the people who exhibit the most “anti-rationalism” behavior are people who avoid tech like the internet, but embrace the TV. I feel that the TV deserves the name “idiot box.”
February 19th, 2008 at 12:40 am
While there is certainly plenty to be said for this topic, I can’t help but feel irritated by the article itself. It might be the tone, which probably won’t do anything towards building bridges in the American “knowledge gap”. Perhaps also because the author equates things such as reading books and knowing foreign languages with “knowledge” (in quotes because it isn’t really the right word but I can’t think of a better one). Not that it isn’t a case I might make myself to some degree, but I imagine the situation is far more complicated than it’s put here. Factors like over-specialization in work and basic living skills and reduced overall time parents are able to spend with their kids (not to mention a lot of parents barely understanding how to raise a kid these days) are at least as important I would think, and I don’t feel like this article did a good job actually trying to reach out and do something about it. I suppose it is an op-ed after all, but still.
That being said, a lot of people are in fact regrettably stupid and something should be done.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:42 am
It always amazes me how my generation(college-age kids and children of the baby-boomers) views something as fundamental to expanding intellect as reading. I have a bookcase in my apartment, it holds about 50 books(not close to all I own, plus I like to protect my first-editions), when I have anyone over for the first they are flabbergasted by the bookcase. When I ask what they like to read the typical response is “I don’t read for fun, i’d rather watch TV”. It’s that type of mentality that will eventually destroy America. I mean how can you not READ? and I’ll admit I’m a sucker for a good TV show, but those are hard to come by(Breaking Bad is the only one lately).
February 19th, 2008 at 1:55 am
“The statistic about novels and poems is probably accurate, but that doesn’t mean no one reads. What are we doing now? Reading.”
Reading (often) poorly constructed internet arguments/opinions is not the same as reading a book.
“Factors like over-specialization in work and basic living skills and reduced overall time parents are able to spend with their kids”
But thats no different to the situation in Europe and Australia for example, but the levels of proud ignorance arent as high ~ not that we arent without some degree of this general dumbing down too.
Seriously, I hate to overly rag on Americans, but if i had a dollar for the amount of times i met an American who actually uttered the ‘Its the best godamn country in the world’ line, and yet had never even been to Canada… Well i’d have enough for a few beers. :)
I’d suggest that more of them travelled the world to see that the USA is far from the best place to live (having the most nukes is not the same thing) and perhaps help them to open their eyes, but Ive met too many loud, obnoxious american tourists…
The fact that an alarming no of Americans cant even point out on a map the countries you are actually at war with right now is REALLY disturbing.
Surely the highly insular nature of US culture is a root cause of the problem, but the uniquely high levels of religious following adds fuel to the fire.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:44 am
[…] recently read a nice article which was linked to from Religious freaks. It’s available here and titled “The Dumbing Of America”. Many of the criticisms […]
February 19th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Yes, it’s true that people are generally getting dumber, and that some of them are rpoud of it, but I think the major problem in the USA is that the culture doesn’t reward any lateral improvement.
US culture is about being the best at what you do (correct me if you disagree) and knowing a bit of everything is useless. Being able to point out afghanistan or knowing about evolution, geology, astronomy etc. is useless. It only counts how good you are at what you do.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:35 am
I can tell you something that should, for all Americans, be almost as disturbing as the article itself.
Disclaimer: I’m from Norway and can only speak of what I see in my country, but I’m tempted to say that this is will probably hold true for many European nations.
The ignorance, anti-reason and anti-scientific behaviour some Americans displays, breeds an equal ignorant behaviour in Norway when it comes to judging Americans. We are starting to look upon your nation as a nation of morans (compliments to the picture). As a long time reader and poster on Slashdot I have come across lots of very intelligent Americans, so I know that even though the rant above holds true for many Americans there are also many Americans that have a sound view on science, politics, faith etc. Whenever I enter a discussion about Americans (you would not believe how often this comes up) I front the view Americans are as diversified as we (Europeans) are, but unfortunately most will disagree with me, to some extent, and feel that the current state of America should be enough to pass judgement on.
Given enough time this view on America will influence international politics and trade. Political parties that criticize the American foreign policy is gaining momentum here in Norway (and all over Europe), not only because they disagree with your foreign politics, but mainly because they know that the public will not stand for politicians that support a nations the public look upon as populated and run by non-intellectuals and religious freaks. One good example can be the difficulties UN / NATO have with getting nations to support operations initiated by USA, because no European politician can support an American initiated operation without running the risk of being stamped as a lapdog, corrupted or ignorant.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:44 am
the conceptual idea of the article reminds me of a movie.
Idiocracy
February 19th, 2008 at 10:35 am
As someone who has been an actual educator in the US, I am afraid I have to agree with the general gist of the article, even if I have a few caveats (which I won’t bother to share here; suffice to say there are also some signs of hope out there). Three examples from my own experience (yes, I know, anectodal evidence doesn’t equal proof):
1) When telling a student to read an important passage from the book out loud to the class, I was told “I don’t wanna read!” with contempt and arrogance. My first response was to ask the kid if he wanted to destroy 10,000 years of civilization with willfull illiteracy and go and live in a cave like humans did before creating the written word. The rest of the class got the point while laughing, and the student proceeded to read (oh so grudgingly, as if I were forcing him to wear a dress or something equally humiliating).
2) While at lunch one day, I lamented the video I had on building the pyramids, which was so old it still referred to “slaves building the pyramids.” One of my colleagues stated, “But they did.” When I pointed out that Zahi Hawass, the world’s leading Egyptologist, had found tons (literally!) of evidence that disproved this idea in the 1990’s, and shared what he had found, the colleague stated, “Well, no one knows how the pyramids were built.” When I stated (okay, it was closer to shouting), “No. Zahi Hawass does; haven’t you been listening?” I was ignored. This was a fellow-educator, mind you. With tenure. Teaching history and Social Studies.
3) I was covering a period for a sick colleague. The kids were Learning Disabled or “LD.” That most of the “learning disabilities” were social in nature, not biological, was not lost on me. Case in point: one kid waltzed in before the bell rang, looked at the mathematics problem on the board, and snidely commented, “I hate math. When am I ever gonna use math in the real world?” I asked him what he planned to do for a living, he said, “Run my dad’s auto shop when he retires.” I pointed out that he would need math to do payroll, taxes, and pricing so that he could keep the business profitable. The kid looked at me with a dumbfounded expression and said “The government won’t do that for me?!”
February 19th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Kurt’s second point about educators is one I very much worry about. I’m looking at towards hopefully teaching philosophy in college, and the system is geared so much towards publishing and getting your name out there that the teachers of philosophy have little time to actually teach philosophy, which given the nature of philosophy seems to ruin the point. Not only that, but the obsession with publishing causes such over-specialization and “esotericness” that it’s no wonder almost no one knows what the hell philosophy is about. There’s almost no way for someone who isn’t a Ph.D or doesn’t have hundreds of hours of time to devote to be able to get a handle on what contemporary philosophy is. It worries me that I find myself against the grain for wanting to focus more on teaching people what philosophy is about and how to think like philosophers than on getting articles out there and that that could actually be a disadvantage in practice. Not that all or even most philosophers are like that, but the famous “publish or perish” mindset is so pervasive.
February 19th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Jayman, you are exactly right, reading a book is different than arguing on line. You have to think more in an argument. (I’m referring to if you are making an reasonable, factual argument.)
February 19th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
But lets not forget that internet ‘arguments’ arent usually written by the worlds most eminent thinkers. Published books are more likely to be written by someone who knows what they are talking about. I say ‘more likely’ in the same way that net arguments arent known for their intellectual nature.
The net has succeeded in giving morons more of a voice, thats for sure.
New One:
You might have something there, but as someone who has lived in both the USA & the UK as well as extensively travelled the world, in my experience, the pride-in-ignorance thing is running rampant in the US, notably more than in europe, australia etc. Its just scary that this is the same country with ‘the finger on the button’ in escence.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
speak for yourself, I consider myself to be one the most eloquent persons alive. And I’m modest to ;)
back on topic though.
I don’t even think the problem lies with TV, or lack of reading. The problem is that people just don’t absorb any information, and aren’t even trying to learn anything.
I can’t count how many thing I’ve learned here and there, from tv, wikipedia, games, random books, people and what-have-you (the english lanuage for one), I consider myself pretty all-round, knowing at least a bit of everything. Lacking such a broad basis of knowledge, and the will to get one, the situation is not going to change any time soon.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I have a degree in Music Education, and another in Chemistry. I tried for 2 years to find a Band teaching job in my state, which turned out to be impossible, due to most districts failing their levies. During my job search, the only offer I got was from a rural district that wanted to pay me $19,000 per year to teach Chemistry and K-12 Music. I am now a Web Developer with a couple private Percussion students.
The US education system is, for the most part, in terrible shape. There are a few good districts scattered about, but not many. Because teaching is a low paying job, you typically don’t get the cream of the crop as teachers. Think back to high school. The kids you knew who got C grade averages are the next batch of teachers.
I was unhirable as a Band teacher because of my degree in Chemistry. Teachers can not negotiate salaries, as they are set by state and local laws. You have a chart with your education level as columns and years of experience as the rows. Because of my second degree I was in the “Bachelor’s Plus” column, meaning I would be paid about the same as someone in the “Bachelor’s” column with 5 years experience. Because of strained funding in most districts, this made me too expensive to hire as a new teacher. 3.6 GPA from a demanding school? Not important. Desire and talent? Not important. Letters of recommendation from teachers, administrators, parents, and students from the school I did student teaching at? Not important. A lousy extra $2,300 a year to hire me? Denied.
I wrote an about this back in 2003 on my business partner’s site here:
http://www.shawnolson.net/a/220/how-to-get-better-teachers.html
The statistics are a bit old, but they haven’t changed much since then.
February 19th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I’m with you andrew, education in America would be a joke, if it weren’t so sad. I spent 13 years learning how to take standardized tests, only to be diagnosed with ADHD IN COLLEGE. It’s getting worse every time school systems are forced to say creationism is as viable as evolution. If i end up staying in America long enough to have children i will be homeschooling them.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:36 am
I feel that the problem is precisely that ANY US citizen 18 and older can vote regardless of their intellectual capacities, service to the country, and personal knowledge. I would prefer to see a sort of national testing to determine how worthy someone is to make decisions regarding the selection of our nation’s leadership, and given a certain value to their vote on a scale, rather than the current blanket value of 1. Of course, if I designed such a scale, any belief in the supernatural would render someone at the bottom regardless of any competence. Seriously, if you believe that you’re going to live forever if you follow a set of antiquated rules and vehemently block any progress that clashes with these ideas, you shouldn’t have a say in determining the course of a nation.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Well, I’m all for a test before voting, but I would start by including a few questions about whatever the person is voting for.
Just cast your vote, then answer 5 short questions about the party/person/rule/law you’re voting on. That will at least prevent people for something “that sounds neat” or someone who looks good.
Also, I wouldn’t include anything about religion in my weight test. It would be about economy, foreign policy, general healthcare policy etc. Things that matter for the vote, I don’t care about their religion, mathematical skill or whatever, as long as the voters are competant and know what they’re doing.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I have to disagree rather strongly, Blasphemaster. Aside from the utter impracticality of creating such a meritocracy (who defines the standards? How do we ensure that those setting the standards do not create them to be self-serving? How are the weights determined? Do we make exceptions for smart people who suffer a brain injury? How often do we retest in case some people got smarter or dumber? Etc.), I would object to disenfranchising any group based on what they believe, even if I disagree with it. Additionally, doing so would only exacerbate Christians already over sensitive persecution complex. Furthermore, actual persecution would inevitably follow, since there is no reason for the secular intelligencia to create protections for these disenfranchised groups. In many ways, the system of government you describe sounds an awful lot like the one in 1984, where the leaders always filled their ranks with the most intelligent and competent people regardless of background, and tried to eliminate all individual loyalty to religion (and loyalty to anything other than the government).
You also seem to preclude the possibility that one can be both intelligent and religious. This equating of religion with stupidity is simply incorrect and is as insulting as when religionists equating atheism with immorality. Atheists can (and often are) moral. Similarly, religionists can be intelligent (and often not idiots). Making the assumption that they are all dumb also creates the danger of underestimating your advisories.
So, despite all the problems that result from unintelligence and irrational thinking, I will still fight for religinist’s suffrage and idiot’s suffrage.
February 20th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I also have to disagree. My view is that the problem we have is that too many people don’t vote at all — most noticeably the poor.
Not that this solution is any better, but for me, I’d rather have mandatory voting than voting based on an exclusionary test.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I agree with the general thrust of the article, but disagree with some of the details.
For one thing, the internet, in theory at least, could make people want to read more, and also generally has renewed interest in writing. That said reading and writing are often bad is true, but at least it gets people to practice.
Also, I disagree that the problem is inherently a generational one, so much as that it is a created problem. In other words, I have noticed that in the past 20-25 years, there has been a systematic effort put forth to not only discourage learning, but to elevate the status of the “common man” and that this effort has ironically been made by many people who belong in the so-called elite class they rail against, such as Rush Limbaugh.
If you can stomach it, watch/listen to them. Rush and his ilk have successfully gotten people to distrust information sources which are not propaganda sources. They rail against universities, science, and educated politicians to create an atmosphere where no one will trust those sources because of their alleged bias.
The void created thus is then easily filled with propaganda such as is found on the only “fair and balanced” TV news channel. I have encountered more ignorance not from any one generation as much as I have from people who watch and listen to this skewed media which seldom bothers to fact check or correct errors.
I’m not saying this is the only problem, because as noted the ignorance problem persists across things like party lines, but I do find it created a fertile bed for the bounty crop of ignorance which we are now experiencing.
June 29th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
so sad.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:16 am
To: snurp. learning another language and reading books is great knowledge. Reading books helps the imagination and exercises the brain, unlike Tv which only feeds you information you will probebly forget 10 minutes later. Learning another laguage is a portal to new knowledge about other cultures etc.. Take the internet for example, I know three languages and have much greater access to information on the net than you If you only know english. I allso think that learning about other countries and other languages gives you a greater freedom and you become less ignorant.